The Canterbury District Health Board [CDHB] is correct in rejecting the proposal of Pharmac to allow pharmacists to dish out the so called emergency contraceptive pill [ECP], free to any women under the age of 25. The CDHB believe that the proposal “would not drop unplanned pregnancy rates.”

The Autonomous Subsidy and Provision of Pharmaceuticals (ASAP) is considered a high priority by Pharmac and will grant pharmacies the right to prescribe, dispense and claim back the price of ECP.

The CDHB are correct in their conclusion, that there is no demonstrable benefit. A pilot scheme commencing in 2008 was tried in the Waikato. There has been no evaluation of the outcome of this trial. The Auckland DHB announced that in 2010 after reviewing its 12 month pilot scheme, it would stop funding the program as there was no significant reduction in unplanned pregnancies and abortions. The ECP also does not prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

The failure of the ECP to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions has been substantiated by 23 studies in 10 countries conducted between 1998 and 2006 that were reported in Obstetrics and Gynecology 109 [2007].

It is acknowledged by the Ministry of Health that the ECPO also acts as an abortifacient by changing the lining of the uterus preventing the implantation of the human embryo. This is a chemical abortion that destroys a living human being. The ECP inflicts violence on a woman’s reproductive faculties. This is another weapon in the war against women. Why does the New Zealand Family Planning Association website deny this truth? Women have a right to know to give an informed consent before taking this lethal drug.

The taxpayer has a right to ask Pharmac where is their statistical evidence to demonstrate that the ASAP programme significantly reduces unplanned pregnancies and abortions. Why should the taxpayer be required to fund fornication and promiscuity? The most effective way of reducing unplanned pregnancies and abortions is by teaching our children abstinence before marriage and faithfulness within marriage.

The ECP has been classified as carcinogenic by the WHO and Right to Life questions why this drug is being made widely available to New Zealand women when this is a known fact. What will the long term consequences of this questionable practice going to be for the long term health of our women?

The following post is from the AlbertMohler.com website. Although this is about the US situation, NZ faces similar issues.

Haven’t heard of him? Albert Mohler is arguably the most prominent Christian Apologist in the world. He has a lot to say on many topics and is well worth reading.

Reads….

Looking for evidence that our society is losing its mind? Just look at the controversy over so-called “emergency contraceptives” and a federal judge’s effort to make these drugs available, over the counter, to girls of any age.

Last month, Judge Edward Korman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York handed down an order forcing the Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraceptives, sometimes called the “morning-after pill,” available without a doctor’s prescription or parental permission to girls without any restriction on age.

Judge Korman’s order would open the door for girls as young as 10 or 11 to obtain the morning-after pill without any involvement by either a doctor or a parent. That same girl, of course, could not be given an aspirin in a school clinic without parental permission, much less a simple antibiotic like penicillin. Nevertheless, this federal judge ruled that girls and women of any age must be allowed over-the-counter access to emergency contraceptives.